Empty Clouds
by Aisling Moon
Summary: Sequel to "Restless Nights." Ichigo can't get home because of a mishap with the Senkaimon. When he has to stay overnight but refuses to sleep, who will help?


_**A/N: Hi again! this is the sequel to my other story, "Restless Nights" I highly recommend you read it before this one or it won't make much sense. By the way when I read the reviews for "Restless Nights", I literally squealed in delight. Thank you guys so much! This story is set like a week later? I'm bad with time. Anyway, on with the story.**_

_**I do not own Bleach. All ownership rights go to Tite Kubo.**_

* * *

A warm breeze flowed through the sixth division barracks. Rukia smiled as she felt the breeze caress her face before moving on once again.

_'It's such a nice day. But it looks like it's going to storm later.'_ Rukia mused as she saw the black clouds rolling in. Judging from how fast they were travelling, the storm clouds would probably get here just as the sun was setting.

Just as she was turning to go inside, she heard the sound of raised voices and caught a flash of bright orange. She rolled her eyes because there's only one person who had hair that color and most people started yelling when around him for more than five minutes.

Sure enough when Rukia peeked around the corner of the house she saw a slightly bedraggled Ichigo yelling at Kisuke. Kisuke looked particularly amused by Ichigo's yelling and that only served to aggravate him further.

"It's your fault I can't get home now! I have a history paper due Monday and I have to do three pages of physics homework!" Kisuke merely hid behind his fan and tried to appease Ichigo.

"Ahh, I'm truly sorry Kurosaki-kun. I didn't expect the reiatsu suppressor to react that...violently to the Senkaimon. It should be repaired by tomorrow morning, or noon at the latest. That means you still have a whole day to do your homework." Kisuke snapped his fan shut and grinned at Ichigo, who merely stood there, baffled.

"You-" A kick to the back interrupted Ichigo before he could verbally or physically beat up Kisuke.

"Idiot. What are you doing here?" Rukia stood over Ichigo, arms crossed. Ichigo sat up, rubbing his back gingerly before scowling at Rukia.

"You know the last time you kicked me I ended up with a concussion. So _why_ do you keep doing it?" Rukia smirked as Ichigo stood up and stretched, trying to work the new-found knot out of his back.

"But if I stopped, that wouldn't be fun." A death glare was all she got before Kisuke intruded, intent on explaining.

"I wanted Kurosaki-san to try out a reiatsu suppressor to see if we could get his reiatsu under control at all. It might actually allow him to do some stealth missions. It was working mostly fine but then Shinji-san showed up and, ah, _pushed_ Kurosaki-san into the Senkaimon. The gate rather promptly exploded." Ichigo snorted.

"Well, at least the idiot is still stuck there cleaning up the mess."

"Who's the idiot?" Shinji casually asked, slinging an arm over Ichigo's shoulder. Ichigo glared at him before shoving Shinji's arm off of him.

"You. You were the one who whacked me into the Senkaimon. Who does that?" Ichigo fumed for another minute or two while Rukia greeted Shinji. Then he realized he had a rather pressing problem.

"Uhh, guys? If I'm stuck here, where am I sleeping tonight?" Kisuke froze with the grin on his face and Shinji looked away uncomfortably. Rukia glanced at the two men, currently pretending they had nothing to do with Ichigo's problem. She sighed before beckoning to Ichigo.

"I'm sure Nii-sama will be able to find a spare room for you. Come on."

^v^v^v^v^v^

Byakuya raised his eyebrows at the sight before him. Rukia had walked into his office and bowed before asking him the oddest question.

_"Can Ichigo stay here tonight?"_

Byakuya's first thought was to wonder what the substitute shinigami was doing here again. The next was wondering why he would need to stay overnight and then the question itself finally registered in his brain.

"Why would he need to stay here?" Rukia looked away and bit her lip.

"Because Kisuke blew up the Senkaimon and I can't get home until tomorrow." Byakuya looked up in surprise, only to be further shocked at the sight of Ichigo.

Ichigo was covered in soot and dirt and his outfit was ripped in several places. He looked tired but alert, and slightly hopeful, probably knowing Byakuya was the only person who had a place to stay. After all, the Kuchiki mansion was HUGE.

Byakuya looked Ichigo over once more before stating,

"He may stay. Find a spare room for him tonight." Rukia bowed and hurriedly thanked Byakuya before pulling Ichigo out of the room. Byakuya went back to the stack of paperwork on his desk but not before hearing a faint rumble of thunder and thinking,

_'It is probably going to storm tonight.'_

^v^v^v^v^v^

Rukia opened the door to an empty room before letting Ichigo inside. It was a big room, with a plush bed near the window.

"You can stay here tonight. Bathroom is the second door on your right and if you need anything I sleep right next door to your left." Ichigo looked around the room once more before slinging Zangetsu off his back and

leaning it against the bed.

"Thanks. I'll be out of here by tomorrow." Rukia was about to wave off his insistence to leave when a loud rumble of thunder interrupted her.

Both she and Ichigo jumped before turning to look out the window. The thunder had ended and lightning flashed again, this time bringing rain with it.

At the sound of the rain, Ichigo seemed to slump for a moment before tightening his barriers. But Rukia noticed.

"I can move you to a room without a window if you want." She suggested quietly. Ichigo looked at her then looked back towards the rain.

"No...it's alright. I just won't be sleeping tonight." He whispered the last part but Rukia still heard and she closed her eyes in resignation.

"Then I'll be going to bed now." Rukia walked out the door without looking back, knowing what she would see. Ichigo standing by the window, face enveloped in shadows of memories.

^v^v^v^v^v^

Shinji and Kisuke stood by the Senkaimon, talking with some shinigami from the Twelfth Division about the damage done to the gate. Neither of them saw the orange haired teen until he walked up and said,

"Wow we really did a number on this gate." Both men looked up in surprise at Ichigo, who was casually observing the gate with a strange mix of awe and guilt.

"What're you doin' here Ichigo? Shouldn't ya be asleep right now?" Shinji questioned.

"Getting blown up makes it kind of hard to sleep. Besides the thunder is noisy." Ichigo absentmindedly answered, surprising the two men.

"You sleep through anything though. When you were training in my shop I had Tessai bang pots and pans over your head and you _still _didn't wake up." Kisuke said, suspicious of Ichigo. Shiji also commented on Ichigo's

weird behavior.

"Yeah, when you were training with us you didn't wake up unless someone touched you. _Then_ you were up faster than I could blink." Ichigo looked away, clearly uncomfortable.

"Can't I have one random sleepless night? It's not like I'm some superhuman." Shinji was about to say technically he _was_ some kind of superhuman but Kisuke's look stopped him.

Kisuke was watching Ichigo chat with some of the other shinigami when it hit him what was so strange about Ichigo. And why.

_"Does-does that happen often?"_

_"More often when it rains. But no, not usually._"

The conversation came back to Kisuke as he watched Ichigo, who, now that he was looking for it, was anxious and kept glancing out the window at the rain. Before long, the shinigami he was talking to went back to work and Kisuke took his opportunity.

"Well, we're all set here so you can go back to your room if you want Kurosaki-kun. There's nothing else to do here. Besides after getting blown up, you should probably get some sleep." Shinji saw what Kisuke was doing and hung back, not wanting to interrupt.

"Nah, it's fine. I'll probably be training with Zangetsu for a while before I go to bed. See you tomorrow." Before Ichigo could leave, Kisuke put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"Are you sure you're not just avoiding sleep?" Ichigo flinched slightly before scowling and defensively saying,

"Why on earth would I be trying not to fall asleep. I have no issues sleeping. Except now that you're talking to me and keeping me awake." Kisuke hesitated, wondering how to go about this without offending the teen. Ichigo snorted and turned away. "That's what I thought. I'm going to bed now."

Helpless to stop him Kisuke watched Ichigo shunpo back over to the Kuchiki mansion, quickly disappearing from sight in the pouring rain.

"What was that about?" Shinji questioned, seeing Kisuke's worried look. Kisuke rubbed a hand over his face before explaining his thoughts.

Shinji was immediately quiet and shuddered a bit at the memory of Ichigo _begging_. Then he remembered the problem at hand.

"So what're we gonna do? It's not like he'll listen to us and he'll snap if he knew we watched him." Kisuke nodded and turned to ponder the problem at hand. When he went through all the possible outcomes, he sighed as he knew there was only one approach. Kisuke just wished he had brought earplugs.

^v^v^v^v^v^

Kisuke, Shinji and Rukia stood at the door to Ichigo's room, watching him. Ichigo was oblivious to them, lost in his thoughts of other rainy days. Much less pleasant ones.

The rain slid down the window and dripped down Ichigo's reflection, making it seem as if he was crying.

Rukia spoke up, startling Ichigo from his daydreaming.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping right now? All good little boys are in bed by nine." Ichigo threw her an exasperated look.

"Yeah right. I'm not a little boy anymore Rukia. I haven't been for a while now. Besides you're smaller than I am." Ichigo turned to look out the window again, missing the flinches of his friends. Ichigo didn't intentionally remind them of how young he was but they couldn't help but think once again how young he was. Yet at the same time, far too old.

Rukia knew he was intentionally avoiding the subject and prepared herself for what was to come next.

"If you're that worried to sleep, then you can just stay awake and tell us about your mother. Because we all know that's what you would be dreaming of anyway." Ichigo tensed and faced them again, livid.

"What?" He said, his voice quiet, but all three could hear the threat in his voice.

"I told them. Why you weren't sleeping. And why you have nightmares." Ichigo didn't react except to say,

"Get out."

"Ichigo you need help-" Ichigo interrupted before Kisuke could say anything else.

"You think I haven't tried to get help, or fix this? My dad tried so many ways, everything. My sisters too. Even Zangetsu tries to help sometimes. Nothing works. And it never will. Now _leave_." The three of them backed out of the room, ashamed and terrified.

They never tried to help before now. How long had this been going on? All three knew the answer although they didn't want to think it.

Think of a small boy waking up in terror every rainy night, dreaming of his mother, begging her to forgive him for something he couldn't stop.

The three of them walked into Rukia's room and sat on the chairs in there. Rukia jumped up onto her bed and squeezed a pillow.

"I can't believe there's nothing we can do. I feel like we should be able to do _something._" Kisuke tilted his hat further over his eyes and sat in silence for a minute before coming up with an idea.

"Wait, I might have something. But it will only work if the Senkaimon has been fixed. Follow me."

^v^v^v^v^v^

Luckily just as they arrived the Twelfth division was finishing up and Kisuke smiled before pulling out his cell phone and walking away. He dialed the number he needed and waited for them to pick up.

_"Hello?"_

"Hello, Isshin-san."

_"Kisuke? What's going on? Do you know why Ichigo isn't home?"_

"Ahh about that, could you come here for a minute? I need to ask you something."

_"Sure I guess. Let me just leave a note for the girls."_

"Alright. I'll see you in a few minutes."

Kisuke hung up and walked over to Rukia and Shinji to wait.

Isshin showed up within two minutes and then immediately went over to Kisuke before rapid-fire asking questions.

"Is Ichigo alright? Where is he? Did you use him in an experiment or something?" Kisuke stopped him before he could ask more questions and answered the ones he already asked.

"Sort of, the Kuchiki mansion, and yes but he's fine." Isshin processed this before returning to Kisuke's first answer.

"Wait sort of? What happened?" Kisuke and Shinji explained the experiment before moving on to the fact that Ichigo was refusing to sleep. Isshin sighed and merely said,

"Show me where he is."

^v^v^v^v^v^

Isshin slowly opened the door to Ichigo's room, making sure his son didn't hear him. The others had been shooed away, Isshin merely promising to take care of his little boy. Shinji had raised a brow at that but Rukia and

Kisuke were used to it so they just left.

Unknown to Isshin, they were all in Rukia's room, listening to what was happening and watching through a hidden door connecting the two rooms.

Isshin carefully walked up to the bed and stopped before he got close to it. The look on his face was indescribable, a mix of sorrow and fondness and pity. Without coming closer, he gently called out,

"Are you asleep yet?" A small gasp was heard before the sheets ruffled and a sleepy Ichigo sat up and blearily looked at his father.

"Dad? What're-" he was interrupted by a yawn "you doing here?" Isshin smiled and took a step closer, nearly touching the bed.

"I used my super senses to feel you weren't sleeping. So I came to help my little boy!" Ichigo rolled his eyes and flopped back into bed.

"Yeah right. You know nothing really helps." Isshin smiled and gingerly sat on the bed. Ichigo didn't respond, just seemed to sink farther into the bed.

"Yes I know nothing helps. That doesn't mean I won't try. Besides you do the impossible all the time. You should be used to it by now." Ichigo laughed and rolled onto his side, closer to his father. Isshin still never touched him, just stayed near him.

"You even did the impossible when you were little. Remember that time that you saved Yuzu from those dogs? Who knew a five year old could beat up three dogs, all bigger than him?" Ichigo smiled and said,

"Mom didn't. We got ice cream that day. I remember. Yuzu kept crying because I got scratched by one of the dogs and she felt like it was her fault I kept telling her it wasn't but when we got ice cream, I finally managed to convince her otherwise. Mom helped."

"Yes, your mother was the only person who could ever convince Yuzu to stop crying. I couldn't."

"That's because you scared her with your goat face." Isshin pretended to look offended and started spouting out some nonsense about how handsome he was. Ichigo laughed and put a hand on Isshin's chest to push him away, but by this time, he was so sleepy it didn't do anything. Isshin pretended though, and toppled back, losing his balance.

He came right back up and moved to hit Ichigo. Instead of making hard contact, he gently set his hand on his son's head and whispered,

"Goodnight, Ichigo." Isshin smiled and then turned to where the three shinigami were watching. "Show's over. Can I take Ichigo back home now?" Kisuke was the only one who wasn't surprised and nodded.

Isshin gently eased his hands under his son and picked him up, bridal-style. Ichigo's head lolled forward and curled up against Isshin's chest. At that moment, he looked so child-like that the shinigami could almost picture a small boy, no older than ten, curled up against his father's chest.

Then Isshin turned away and walked out the door, heading for the Senkaimon. Kisuke followed at a distance, intent on making it back to his shop tonight. As he walked through the pouring rain, safe under his umbrella, all he could think about was what Ichigo had said earlier.

_"I'm not a little boy anymore Rukia."_

Ichigo was right. He wasn't a child any longer. He had fought monsters and gods, and _won._ That didn't make it any less awful that a _seventeen-_year-old _boy_ was fighting battles people hundreds of years older than him had died for. The worst part was what Ichigo had tacked on the end.

_"I haven't been for a while now."_

That was the most truthful thing Kisuke had heard in months. Ichigo had been a little boy once. That little boy had died with his mother, replaced by a warrior forged in blood and steel.

The only ones to ever see the little boy merely caught glimpses of him before Ichigo came back and the world marched on.

The rain continued to fall and wash away all sounds, all feelings, all memories, all traces of a little boy crying next to his mother. It washed away the blood and smiles from a little boy, protected by a warrior.

A warrior who looked in the mirror and saw a little boy.

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_**A/N:Thanks for reading! Please review on your way out it makes me soooo happy(even thought this story is depressing, hmm.) :3**_


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